Norman Graves: The Canary of Vault 52
by P0ztb3llumJoe
Summary: Another Cryo-Stasis story in progress taking place from the bombs of 2077 to 50 years before the vault dweller of vault 13's quest. Would love to tag-team this story with someone... Message me if interested. Work in Progress. Constructive critique please.
1. Chapter 1 March to 52

They saw it coming. They knew the writing was on the wall. They put a rush order on the construction on the remaining vaults with men and women who couldn't even afford to secure a spot within these vaults working around the clock. You couldn't tell your Mr. Handy to turn on the television without seeing Vault-Tec Propaganda. It hadn't even been a year since I was finally able to hang up my power armor for good. I had been enjoying moderate-sized city life. The most sensitive situations I was getting into were discussions about the local side of the war's effects including the discussions of outrage associated with Vault-Tec building within Mammoth Cave. I had to laugh to myself about how little people truly knew about our government, military, and their preparations. Vault-Tec was essentially a scam. Chances were high that these beds within these vaults would never be needed. People were investing their entire lives' savings their most valuable possessions and their family's futures into these what-ifs. I thought it was a lot of hubbub over nothing. In fact a Mr. Handy was actually cheaper than a tank of fuel these days mainly because people were selling them used to gather money for their vault slot. The one I got I call Mr. Stevious, (as in Mischievous) I modified with some surplus parts from work so that Kelly and the dog will be defended while I'm working my long work hours. Either way, I bought him gently used for a song from a desperate neighbor.

After the hells that I had seen in my time in Anchorage and my short stint in Shanghai before that, the widespread eradication of humans didn't seem like such an atrocity. Not that I thought us all a vile plague on the earth, but once you've seen what we are capable of, you grow numb to the thought. I had my share of red-yellow blood on my hands. I had heard men's voices cry out to their God in vengeance, but that's not when you worry about the world. You start to worry when you hear them thank you for delivering them from the Hell they had wrought. My service had made me a prime candidate to supervise the special force's modification of sentry bots and Mr. Gutsies at our small secret facility on the outskirts of town. My wife Kelly and I had been trying to start our family since before I came home. The doc at the VA wanted to look into some genetic therapy for my friend and the boys downstairs. The problem was some nonsense about over exposure to radiation from fusion cores. I told Kelly we weren't going to do that. Too great a length to put an unstable amount of radiated seed in her womb could result in some Zeta baby clawing its way out of her stomach before term. She cried. I don't think it was time to joke, but how would I know? Spending the past 10 years fighting a stalemate war can tend to make a man kind of callous. The way she acted though you'd have thought I was Grognac the Barbarian himself. That happened around the end of September.

From that point on, she wasn't quite the same. She cried every day. She didn't speak to me much. I guess that's why I'm not so tore up about it all now. I had lost her almost a month before that day. I could say she didn't want to come because she didn't want to live but I know deep down, she didn't want to live any longer with who I had become. I was home that day from work for the first actual day off since that doctor's appointment. It Figures. My job had its own shelter contingency plan set up by the government to keep the mod facility running in the event of the worst. Kelly and I both had secured slots, but the question was often asked by other employees which was very valid.

"How are we supposed to go home and get our wives and make it back here by the time the bombs fall?"

Leadership tip-toed around the subject very deftly, but it didn't smooth things over enough for the majority of the employees to start making their families come to work with them. When they figured out this wasn't going to be sustainable, it slowly started to taper off until many of them decided to start saving for Vault-Tec slots. At the wage they were being paid, there's a very low likelihood that they made it. At Any Rate, I was home when the sirens started. I listened to the news and radio to find out what my time frame was and I determined that I was not going to make it back to work.

I was about to give up when I saw the neighbor girls across the street locked out of their house. Their school was within walking distance from the neighborhood. The sweet little girls were desperate to get into their house, throwing their school books at the window hoping to gain entry. As we approached, The youngest one Callie said, "Our passes are in there." I quickly calculated that Kelly needed this to snap out of it so I forcefully grabbed her by the hand and pulled her with me. I yelled to Stevious to defend us to the University vault. Kelly fought me all the way across the street. I held her head as I looked into her eyes. The fire in mine must have told her that this was not the time to crumble, because immediately she was calm and collected and the Kelly I had fallen in love with was back for that slight second. I said, "We need to take these girls to their vault." Kelly nodded as I pulled a bobby pin from her hair, she immediately walked to comfort the girls.

Pandemonium was ensuing around us. People were already trampling each other and attempting to rob each other for vault passes. I calmly but quickly picked the lock on the door. Just as I was opening the door a piercing scream came from down the street. "Don't let them turn around!" I yelled to Kelly as I watched the events unfold at VATS speed. Their mother, Olivia, was just within sight of her home where her passes were kept when a father and his two young boys gunned her down.

"Stevious! Stall them!" I ordered. I opened the rear compartment of his frame where I had hidden my trusty 10mm and its holster.

"Kelly, Take them inside and find those passes!" I ordered. She followed the girls. They knew that the passes were in their parents' room but not exactly where. I could hear them quickly ransacking the bedroom in distant peripheral earshot, but only by blocking out the pings of the bullets hitting Stevious and the stair rail I was taking cover behind. Stevious was equipped with a combat shotgun along with his normal flame thrower and saw blade tools. As his onslaught of fire forced the family to stop progressing, I lined up the reflex sight on my 10mm. As the father and his boys peeked out to deliver simultaneous shots at us, I delivered 3 quickly aimed shots, the first nailing the father in the lower neck, the youngest boy in the shoulder he was butting his rifle against and the older boy in the lower torso. I stayed within a defensive posture as I commanded Stevious to finish them. Not that I wouldn't have been capable, but why invite the nightmares when you have another option?

Stevious sprayed the group with his flame thrower as I walked to the girl's mother's lifeless body. She was reaching for the house when she took her last breathes. I slid her wedding ring from her finger and placed it in her handbag. I placed that in my back pocket as I ran back to the house. The girls and Kelly were already heading down the stairs. Kelly's face was ghost-white as the girls began to walk toward the back door with our dog in tote. Kelly calmly with a look of defeat handed me the passes. There were three. The girls' father Allen did not secure a spot for his wife. I immediately started calculating a possible back story for the reasoning behind this. In the split seconds of a tangent my mind was going down I had completely ignored that this had removed any hope from Kelly's mind of getting into the Vault. I honestly hadn't thought that far ahead from compartmentalizing the tasks at hand but I guess that Kelly had foreseen us entering the vault as Mr. and Mrs. Allen Story.

I looked at Kelly with the fury of desperation and growled, "We have to try!"

"No Norman," She whimpered with tears welling in her eyes. "You do."

She reached into her dress pocket and pulled three syringes of Med-X. Before I could reach her to wrestle them away she stabbed them into her neck and released all of the chem into her blood. I cradled her as she fell. She smiled as she kissed me softly and whispered "go." I roared as I slung her dead weight over my shoulder and commanded the girls to run.

Stevious flew in a zig-zag pattern in front of us prepared to do what needed to be done if we were approached or hindered. I covered the rear as well as I could with my 10mm and Kelly slung over my shoulder. Just as we approached the stadium entrance which hid the entrance to the University vault we were bottlenecked into a line of desperate people.

Speakers repeated a broadcast overhead tracking the bombs as they approached the United States. "Is there more I can assist you with, Mr. Norman?" asked Stevious.

"Fly up ahead; I need you to tell the guys in the power armor that you've got Professor Allen Story and Family here."

With that I didn't see Stevious again.

The crowd became more and more violent as the news voice announced contact in Europe and missiles spotted over California working their way east. The crowd was occupying less and less space as they began to trample and crush people to get further in toward the vault entrance. I was struggling to maintain a perimeter of safe space for the girls to occupy as we inched toward the entrance.

"Estimated Contact in Ten Minutes" Said the voice on the intercom as the familiar thump of power armor came from the bottlenecked entrance.

The voice coming from the power armor, though electronically intimidating was that of a young man. I knew the kid was green as army Instamash after 8 months in Anchorage. He moved sloppily in his power armor but still carving a path through the crowd flailing his bulky arms. The amount of strength he was putting into the motions showed me that he was still fighting the armor instead of letting it do the work for him. This resulted in everyone hit by his flailing arms sustaining real injuries. As if this situation needed more chaos added to it. As he got closer I could make out what he was actually saying.

"Tilda and Callie Story… Tilda and Callie Story." Bellowed the Mask of the power armor. Stevious had made it! Then my thought process finally realized that they were only asking for the girls. I was screwed. Allen was already inside and they knew I was an imposter. Plan b was quickly forming in my head. I kneeled down to the girls who hadn't stopped crying to share with them the plan.

"I have to get this guy out of his armor so I can take you ladies inside to your dad, okay? So what I need you to do is tell him who you are and start trying to run away. He doesn't know how to work that armor and he's liable to hurt you if he tries to pick you up. I'm going to relieve him of that duty." I said with my signature fire of sincerity in my eyes.

I could see that Tilda was suspicious of this statement so I looked into her eyes sincerely.

"My mission here is to get you two in that vault safely. I am aware that my chance to get in has come and gone. That man is hurting people and I do not trust him to be able to get you there safely!" I pleaded. "If I meant you harm, we would not have made it this far. I need you to trust me."

Tilda's resolve started to bolster as she watched the power armor hulk closer bashing the face of a nearby elderly woman splattering her blood on the people nearby. Tilda made a determined and enraged expression showing me that her trust had once again aligned itself with me as she took her sister by the hand and announced, "We are Tilda and Callie Story!"

With a dramatic pause while checking his internal display for their pictures, the guard started moving forward with more purpose. As I had told them to do, they evaded him as he got close enough to pick them up without a word.

"Hey! Come back! I'm trying to help!" He said as he re-arose from his crouching position.

I carefully and quietly set Kelly down on the asphalt leaning against the barrier as I sneakily removed the fusion core from the suit of power armor. The armor stopped dead as I spun the wheel causing it to open. Inside, was a skinny Poindexter of a man stood fighting with the now inactive power armor. I grabbed a fistful of his hair and flung him backwards out of the armor. There, a mob of angry people swarmed him. I re-engaged the fusion cell and entered the suit myself. The suit was not well maintained, which may have explained some of the rookie's ineptitude with the suit but not his cruelty of repeated action. I placed my fist on the ground and asked the girls to hold onto the cleats on the pauldrons as they sat with their legs on either side. They did as I asked while I smoothly guided the power armor back upward. I looked around to pick up Kelly again but I didn't find her. I looked around in a panic. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Did you see what happened to Kelly?" I asked Tilda and Callie.

"She got picked up." Said Callie Timidly, "In the crowd."

"Where is she?!" I announced into the crowd.

The husband of the old woman who was bashed aside brought her forward. I had been holding her upside down over my shoulder and hadn't noticed her vomiting. I don't know if it was while I was carrying her or after I had set her down, but her face was blue from asphyxiation. He shook his head with sadness on his face.

"Sh… she didn't make it. I venture to say you've been carrying her around dead for the last 5 minutes, son" He said.

I was so angry at her. I swallowed hot murderous rage as I refocused as my mind was programmed to do. I was crying, hot with rage and defeated inside at my body continued to act with purpose. This was the hell that I was used to. I was being driven by the task but doing my best not to feel the worst pain imaginable. I was chewing back vomit myself while my body stayed active. If I were not encased in the powered armor, my knees would have buckled and all hope would have been lost. When the fog of hatred depression and anger lifted, I positioned the girls securely on the power armor.

I yelled to the crowd, "Everybody get behind me!"

I charged.

The crowd, at this point, was smart enough to make a path for me to get through as I bashed into the wall that was bottlenecking the group. With this new access point, the vault's security was breeched. With my additional strength and speed, I put a decent distance between the choke point and the vault doors. In the calamity, the security force had assumed that I was the same man that was sent out to retrieve the girls so they did not meet my presence with aggression. A few more had been sent out and already returned.

"Three minutes to estimated Impact." said the NORAD voice.

With this announcement the crowd began to rush into the security force eventually overwhelming the power armor clad group. There was a contingency plan for this. They had thought of everything.

As I continued to carry the girls into the vault door, I was waved in to hurry as the vault door began to close. The bastards called the security guards expendable the whole time. Laser Turrets dropped from the doorway and came up from the ground as the crowd poured in. There was hardly time to sigh before they were decimated by the barrage of firepower. I calmly put my fists on the ground and allowed the girls to climb down the power armor. When they were safely on the ground I hotly exited the armor and charged at the woman at the control to the blast door. I pulled her up by the scruff of her jump suit spitting in her face as I growled through my teeth.

"You Killed all those people! Even your own!"

The woman shook and lost her breathe in extreme crippling Terror as the fog of red vision began to fade. I had not noticed the security personnel in riot gear who were already whipping me with their batons. I fell to my knees as the impact rendered my muscles useless. I heard the familiar click of a 10mm leaving its holster and cocking.

I thought to myself "Mission accomplished soldier, Now die in good company."

Just as my eyes looked toward the nearest light as I resolved to my fate, a voice came over the intercom.

"Stop!.. The Savagery stops at those doors. Restrain him and bring him to the brig. We have use for him." As I rose to fight, the very lady I was choking, swung her stun baton at my head as the room went dark on me. Just as I lost consciousness I heard "Citizens of Vault 52 contact immanent, Now brace for impact!" as the ground furiously shook under me. My mind could sense these things but the rest of my body could not move.


	2. Chapter 2 Fog of Consciousness

I awoke with a splitting headache. As I became cognizant again, I expected to find myself behind bars. Instead I was strapped to a stretcher including my head. I suppose when space is at a premium this is the only alternative to disposal. As I closed my eyes to stop the room from spinning they were forced open and examined by bright lights. I was not happy about that. I finally pieced together all of the strands of thought into the memory of what happened and that I was in deep shit.

"Norm…. Norm… It's Allen." said Allen

"Am I screwed here?" I asked.

"That's up to the dean. Sorry the overseer as he wants to be called now. Look, neighbor, I'm doing what I can for you. The fact that you're not dead means that he's taking mercy on you. In fact the fact that you aren't puts him in a bad place having taken most of the non-employees' life savings to secure a spot and you get to waltz in scot free." Said Allen.

"Well the fact that your dirty ass didn't secure a space for your wife cost me the life of mine. I'm not going to forgive you for that no matter what you do. So you might as well stick grateful right up your pickled ass you fucking whore of a man!" I said in a thirsty whisper.

Allen chuckled. "Listen, the world has changed. Life as we know it is over. Why shouldn't I have had the opportunity to leave a loveless marriage? This is a big adjustment for everyone. We are all starting over. The minor detail of Olivia not being part of it will be adjustable to the girls just like all the rest of this. I won't be made to feel guilty for that or for your wife. If you get into the general population you'll have a plethora of beautiful young college girls who miss their daddy to choose from. Why do you think I became a professor in the first place?"

"You want someone to say that about your girls, you sick fuck?" I said as I coughed.

"Oh my girls will never have to miss their daddy. I'm crucial to the operations here. I don't want to hear any of your shit about morals either, you killed Samuel Luciano when you threw him from his power armor. My girls would have made it in here either way. That was a selfish move. That was to save your own hide." Said Allen.

"Maybe it was. I don't exactly stop to analyze my psychie when I'm in crisis mode. I will say this. I have killed many men less deserving of death than him. This whole damn war is just a big vat of foggy muddy moral grey area. The problem is it's a battle of the Gods. Each person that gets god-like powers decides they get to play god and decide who lives and dies. Vaut-tec and your "overseer" are just more of those people." I said, finally regaining my voice.

"I understand you're angry, Norm, you have every right to be. There's no sense arguing with you on this. I'll try to talk to the overseer on your behalf. If he allows you to stay, I'd be happy to open our quarters to you until something else comes available. I figure that's fair trade for bringing my girls here safely." said Allen

Rage began to build within me again, but I held my tongue. If he was the only ally I had in here, I didn't want to further spit in his face even if he was indirectly responsible for me losing Kelly. As I said, I realize that I lost her long before the bombs dropped.

"Alright Allen, Just do what you can. I'm not asking for any favors from you here. All I'm asking for is a chance to die with dignity. I just don't want to die in a cage. If you can convince your overseer of that, then we're paid in full." I said in a cognizant manner.

I was resolved to my fate, but I didn't want to lose my spirit first.

"Fair enough, Norm." Said Allen.

"You be good to those girls, Allen, or I'll get you from the other side." I joshed.

"Put him out" Allen said to someone behind me. "Lights out, Mr. Norm." Said the Mr. Handy behind me as he injected the sedative into my neck….. Mr. Norm? Stevious?! I thought as the world went black yet again.

My concept of time was skewed here but I feel like I spent a month trapped in the nightmares that I avoided by only sleeping when I was too tired to dream. The only difference was the new scenes of the kid I yanked from the power armor being torn apart and the crowed being mowed apart by the turrets. In slow motion I was watching the ashes of disintegrating flesh separate from scorched bone with the red glow of the laser all around and tumble across the concrete. I was seeing Faces that I recognized from living in this city being reduced to painful expressions and then vanishing from existence. Then I flashed to a shot of the world melting into a molten metal pile of goo from the nuclear devastation. Once again my ability to reason kicked in and I realized that they must be bringing me around if I am aware of my dreams. I struggled to open my eyes more quickly as I was anxious to see what if anything I had to look forward to. After three hard forced blinks I realized that I was surrounded by a large group of people all in the vault jumpsuits. I forced yet another blink and I could make out the silhouettes of Tilda and Callie looking up from their father's sides, tearfully.

I heard a man grand-standing with his back to me. I immediately correlated his voice to that of the one over the intercom system when I first entered the vault. I was curious to see who this "overseer" was. The way he spoke was like that of a ring master. He sang his dramatic stretched out announcement, in a way to promote showmanship and thought-out control. If I were a spectator for this, I would have seen through his fake drama for what it was, a feeble attempt at influencing the minds of his people.

"My residents of Vault 52, welcome to the public trial of Norman Graves. Some of you may have known him as a veteran and a pillar of the local community. Some of you may have known him as a comfort to have nearby. Many look to those who served in this great-war as heroes. As people who can be relied on for security, for leadership, and for hard work. Vault 52 has no shortage of these things. You will look to me for leadership and security, and I will look to each and every one of you for hard work. There are two major things that set Norman Graves apart from every citizen of Vault 52. Norman Graves failed to secure his citizenship into Vault 52. His actions in gaining entry to our home cost the life of Samuel Luciano, whose power armor he stole to aid in his unlawful entry into our sanctuary. He breached the stadium's wall to allow another point of entry than those pre-determined by security forces thereby allowing a mob of desperate people close to our inner sanctum. His actions required us to close the vault door three minutes prematurely costing the lives of Stu Barkley, Levi Espenoza, Nathan Fitzgerald, Jenifer Schultz, Louis Robinson, Jamaal James, and Dr. Laura Petway. Once he gained entry to Vault 52, he attempted to murder Tina Callaway with his bare hands saved only by our inner vault garrison's quick response. Thereby, I am charging Norman Graves with nine counts of murder, unlawful entry into a sanctified area, and one count of attempted murder. Allen Story will speak on his behalf."

"Fellow Citizens, Staff Sargent Graves was my neighbor before all of this. I'd like to tell you that we were great friends. I'd like to tell you that I could guarantee that he is a saint and to put him to death for his crimes would be severely detrimental to all of our survival. I can't tell you that. What I can tell you is that Mr. Graves had a secure spot in a government owned vault whose location is unknown to the public. I can tell you that my girls would not be here today had he not carried them to the vault that day. I can tell you that Tina Callaway was ordered by the overseer to activate the turrets when she was ordered to shut the vault door. I can tell you that the reason the Vault-Tec security force did not open fire on Staff Sargent Graves because they assumed that he was Samuel Luciano in the power armor completing his mission. The breech of the wall would have been forgivable had this been the case, however, the lost lives of the remaining Vault-Tec security force and Dr. Petway were the result of the vault door being sealed early and the turrets being activated. If Staff Sargent Graves is guilty of murder, he is only guilty of Samuel Luciano's death. Please observe the security camera footage. You'll see that Staff Sargent Graves was doing his best to complete his mission and bringing my girls, the future generation of Vault 52 to their safe home. This man has lost everything already; to put him to a swift death would be mercy. No matter the number of deaths that he is found to be responsible for, it would set a precedent for our new society. Killing for principles on a large scale is what brought us to this dark time in human history. I spoke to Staff Sargent Graves about a week ago. I thanked him for saving my girls and granted him a debt of gratitude. To which he responded; 'Alright Allen, Just do what you can. I'm not asking for any favors from you here. All I'm asking for is a chance to die with dignity. I just don't want to die in a cage. If you can convince your overseer of that, then we're paid in full.' With that, I propose we grant Staff Sargent Graves his wish. One day, we will get the 'All Clear' signal from Vault-Tec, but it is possible we won't. We could have intelligence on the conditions of the world outside out Vault, but it is possible we could not. We could send a security detail to acquire this information for us, but they could drop dead the second they set foot outside the safety of the vault. Leaving us vulnerable to any attackers who may be waiting outside. Any volunteers?... Staff Sargent Graves is military trained, strong, resilient, smart, and no stranger to combat. After the accounts of my girls regarding their battle to get here, there is no doubt in my mind that there is no better candidate for this task than Staff Sargent Graves.

The congregation of the vault 52 citizens began to speak all at once aghast at this possibility. Sentiments about wasting resources and questioning his physical condition at the time and fear of his ability to take over the vault were discussed for a few minutes.

"Order! Order! We will discuss all of this in an orderly fashion. We must have order!" Said the overseer as the crowd calmed again.

"I heard you. You're concerned for your safety with him around. You're concerned about using valuable resources on him for as many years. You're concerned that if we keep him caged, he will not be as capable of the task as he is today. You're concerned that he would exit the vault and never return. There are many variables. I have a proposal that may set many of these concerns to rest. This Vault has been outfitted with two cryo-pods capable of hyper-freezing a human. Until Thawed, in theory, they will stay as they are today. This was originally developed for those afflicted with incurable terminal diseases. These have received few public tests prior to the war, but what better way to test them than with a man who is already sentenced to death? When he is thawed, we will outfit him with a pip-boy 3000 tethered to an eye-bot. They eye-bot will relay the Intel to us. I will rest my case here, but I propose you mull it over and not take the decision lightly. Thank you, fellow vault citizens." Allen Said.

"Professor Story, do not mistake this for a democracy. The ultimate say belongs to me. However, I will take the consensus of the people into consideration." the Overseer said under his breath to Allen.

"The Overseer says he will take your consensus into consideration while he decides since our current government is not to be mistaken for a democracy." Said Allen. "my Apologies, Overseer."

The Overseer's rage could be detected as he swallowed it and smiled.

"Your personal terminals will be set up with a voting option. You may vote prior to lights out this evening. For the Longevity of Vault 52, so it shall be. You are dismissed." Said the Overseer.

"Goodnight, Mr. Norm." Said the familiar Mr. Handy bot as more sedative was injected into my neck. I thought to myself that I would be glad when all this sedative crap is done with.


	3. Chapter 3 Statements of Vengence

I awoke yet again. This time seated in a pod with glass all around me. I could tell by the position that I was in that they were letting me naturally come to my senses. I decided to take my time this time. The fact that I wasn't being viewed by many nor smelling the familiar scent of gun oil near my face told me that they had agreed to Allen Story's proposal. I thought to myself that it was the most logical option and though I was afraid of the painful death this process may cause, I was beyond sick of being stabbed in the neck. With that I reached up to massage the multiple sore spots near my jugular vein. As I did, the movement must have alerted the overseer to my conscious status. He stepped into view of the glass and touched the button on the intercom outside the pod.

"I want you to know something, Graves. You have caused a lot of trouble for me. I narrowly avoided civil unrest this early in the game all because Allen Story fell on his sword for you. It is to be expected to have some sort of uprising eventually but absolute control is critical as you are acclimating your vault to the new ways. You are a symbol of resistance. It frustrates me to no end that disposing of you was this difficult. My way is supposed to be the only way to sustain survival here in this vault. Immediately, you showing up without the required indenture undermines my ability to dictate my vault in an adequate manner. There is one positive. At least now I know that I will have to be careful not to display what could be perceived as hubris to my people. I suppose other vaults are not awarded the luxury of dry run at civil unrest. The people are sheep and I am their Sheppard. The power rests in my hands whether your life support will fail while you're in cryo-stasis. It appears to my people that they won this "vote." I truly didn't need to speak to you before I follow through with putting you on ice for the next 5 decades if I choose to keep you alive. I just thought it may give me some sort of sense of dominance over you. Something that will truly help a man realize his weakness is to embrace it, and adjust accordingly. In the meantime, I'm still trying to take solace in the fact that you will be sent out to the wasteland to die when you are released. I will be able to review the footage again and again from the data collect from the eye-bot. I feel as though I owe you an apology for one thing. I hate you. I have no reason to hate you. In fact, I respect you. We could have had great conversation, you and I, Almost resembling a friendship. You jeopardized my absolute power here. For that, my immaturity will not allow me to forgive you. I truly hope that this will be enough for me. I am not allowing you to receive your allowance of med-x before beginning the cryo process. You will feel it freeze your blood from the inside. As I watch your agony, I am hoping for both of our sakes that I will feel vindicated. Do you know that many years ago, in coal mines, a single caged canary was used to test if oxygen levels were acceptable to breathe due to the carbon monoxide and such. If the canary began to suffocate or even die, the miners were queued to leave the space expeditiously. You are my little Canary, nothing more. Once you're dead and gone, the history logs will illustrate you a hero. The truth will always remain, that you were nothing more than my disposable insignificant little pet. Goodnight Canary. Dream of the pain you've endured." said the overseer.

"If I ever get a hold of you, overseer 52, you're going to beg me to kill you. I will look you deeply in the eye and sincerely smile and tell you no as I slowly and painfully remove pieces of you and feed them to you." I growled calmly.

The overseer smiled as he attentively listened and slowly depressed the initiate button. He took pleasure as my convicted growl became more and more labored as the chemical began to freeze my blood starting from my feet. I never broke eye contact. I am sure he wanted to watch me scream and howl in pain but a fire of white-hot hate kept me from obliging him.

"I'm… Going…. To… Make… You… BEG!..." I labored.

As the freezing chemical and fog of hyper-freezing air worked up to my waste, my genitals sent signals of the most unimaginable pain to my brain. I could no longer fight the urge to howl. I tilted my head back, pursed my eyes shut, opened my mouth widely and howled up to the heavens to release the pain. As my face became flush with all the hot blood I had left, I felt my vocal cords freeze as my howl was cut short. Within seconds of this realization, I was no longer able to think.


	4. Chapter 4 Allen Story

CHAPTER 4 ; ALLEN STORY

Had I known what had happened with the cryo-pod I wouldn't have offered to bring the girls to see his body in the pod. I'm their father, I'm supposed to be their hero, their protector. Callie looked at the pod in bewilderment as Tilda bawled against my hip. That look; I couldn't get past it myself. A perfect frosted statue of excruciating intolerable pain. The overseer made a comment that he suspected the med-x dispenser may have malfunctioned. Truth or not, it was enough of a wake-up call to tell me that he was capable of some real evil and I had secured my place on his shit-list on Norm Graves' behalf. I wanted to hate Norm for putting me in this position as I have always been one to adapt and adjust, but my daughters already knew that Norm was a man where I was a weasel. I will never forget when Tilda gave me that look. Callie isn't quite old enough to understand. Tilda sees me for what I am and holds me accountable for how I have behaved. If it weren't for that, I never would have stuck my neck out in the first place. I love my girls more than anything in the world. Olivia had been dead to me since the kids were old enough to walk. I guess I just didn't have room in my heart for her once the girls were here. I want to feel guilty for being so cold, but I don't.

Looking at the pain on Norm's face reminded me of what he had said to me. How I wouldn't want some predator of a man like me to take advantage of my girls' vulnerability to get his slimy rocks off. I can admit to myself that it's taking advantage and is only separated from statutory rape by a number that happens to be high enough. I guess I had done a lot of thinking since speaking with Norman Graves. I'd be willing to turn over a new leaf if I wasn't already in too deep. I had three girls who were "in love" with me. Two of them made it in here. I had at least 5 that I had sex with casually. Of those 5, four of them made it in here. They were not with their families. When they inevitable find out about me, they will have no one but others just like them. They survived because of me. I helped them be selected for vault admission, but I also gave them a false sense of allegiance. As I looked at the agony on Norm's face in that pod, I began to realize that my soul was in just as much pain. I barely made it to the nearest trash can when I vomited. Tilda and Callie came to console me asking me what was wrong.

"I'm just a little sick girls, I'll be okay in a minute." I said in between heaves. As I vomited, I cried for what I had done to Olivia. Maybe I didn't love the Olivia that I essentially killed, but I did love her before. If I had manned up and divorced her so many years ago, maybe she and the girls would be safe and happy in another vault somewhere and I'd be free to bang my little coeds in peace. I can't stop. These girls are going to grow up to hate me. I'm pretty sure Tilda already does.

I wiped my mouth and came up to my feet again. As the smell started to find its way to Callie, she too began to puke all over the floor. Luckily, a Mr. Handy was close by to clean it up. I was busy dealing with Callie so I didn't notice Tilda with her hand on the glass of Norm's frozen cocoon.

"I miss you Norm Graves." Said Tilda.

"Tilda, come away from there!" I snapped as she timidly pulled her away from the glass and walked back over to us.

"Dad, just let Stevious do it." Said Tilda.

"Stevious? How do you know his name?" I asked.

"He came here with us. That's the Graves' Mr. Handy. His name is Stevious." She Replied.

"How do you know it's the same one?" I asked.

"He got shot at when the bad guys killed mommy." Tilda replied as Callie looked doe eyed and began to bawl harder.

"What?! Who killed mommy?" I demanded.

"A boy from her class, his brother, and his dad; they were chasing her to the house and shot her a whole bunch of times." Tilda said as tears welled in her eyes. "Norm told Kelly not to let us look but I saw the whole thing. She took us in the house while Norm and Stevious killed them all."

"Then Kelly killed herself with drugs, but Norm carried her anyway." Said Callie.

"You mean you saw all of this?" I demanded.

They had disclosed to me vague details of the journey to the vault but as the specifics came out I realized I may have passed judgment on Graves before knowing all the details. "Great." I thought to myself. I'm going to be dealing with the sullen Edgar Allen Poe kids that have seen too much. Luckily this was a vault full of professors. We have people for psychology here. Not that these two weren't going to have problems enough having to watch me fulfill my young coed addiction. I knew deep down that no matter how much discretion I attempted to use, this was a captive environment. Word will get to them. Development is key. I may hold a doctorate degree, but I am not a great parent. I will petition to start a council for education and development. I need help here. I won't hold these girls' respect forever.

"I am shocked that the two of you haven't been raving about that since you got here? Why are you so calm about it?" I asked perceivably appalled.

"Daddy, ever since we were old enough to understand stories you and mommy both have been telling us that this War is going to kill the world and that there's a good chance it will kill all of us too. Mommy is the lucky one. She gets to leave before things get really bad. We have to wonder every day if we should be dead." Said Tilda without remorse.

"Tilda, Honey, That is the most depressing and terrible thing that I have ever heard a child say, much less my child! I want to be mad at you but I can't be because you will need that thought process. Tilda, you're going to have to try to be innocent for as long as you can. We paid a lot of money to award you and your sister that chance." I pleaded.

"Daddy, We are young. We don't want to know all of the bad in the world. But when you grow up watching a world at war with the threat of it all ending any day, what do you expect?" Asked Tilda defiantly.

I honestly couldn't believe I was talking to a 9 year old. I needed to know how smart and resilient my little girls were, but their development was obviously beyond me. I was going to need lots of help. The real problem with publicly congregating to mold the minds of the youth was the fact that the overseer would be watching closely. He will demand that we teach whole-hearted allegiance. Suddenly I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. Then I remembered Vault 52 would be the only world I would likely see.


	5. Chapter 5 Tina Calloway

CHAPTER 5 TINA CALLOWAY

I gazed into the mirror. My eyes still bloodshot and my neck still bruised from that maniac strangling me. I wish he'd finished the job. I should have never carried out that order. As I initiated the turrets, I gazed down at the monitor on the gate board as I watched those turrets tear more people to shreds than I could even count. **I** pulled that trigger, whether it was by order or not it was my muscle movements that caused that to happen. I feel dirty. I feel like my soul is now stained by all of their blood. I can't even stand to look at myself to inspect the bruising on my neck. I can't break eye contact with my reflection; locked in hatred. I don't deserve to be living. I recognize that I am having a real mental issue here and I need to get help with it, but speaking against the overseer in such a way may land me to be made an example of. The only thing that makes me sicker with having to live with my guilt is to think I could die to further strengthen the overseer's power over this Vault.

Graves has been on ice for a couple days now and I still won't allow myself to feel safe. In fact, I almost feel that he was the last ember of hope of being safe from the overseer. Now that hope is frozen deep below decks. In an area I'm not allowed to even see.

When I left the congregation of Graves' trial, I was so ashamed of myself for being so turned on by him. He was the kind of man who extracted respect. Some may call it confidence; I called it being aware of who and what you are. This beast was the maniac who almost squeezed my trachea shut. Here I am feeling like I could have impaled myself on him right there on that table he was strapped to. I was in a hurry to leave the common room and find my way back to my quarters. I was so wet I was afraid the heat and darkening in the area would be noticeable. I was immediately embarrassed when Charles Jameson stopped me to check on me. His concern was sweet for asking, but I don't want to involve him in my self-loathing. The hard thing to realize for people less self-aware than I am is that whatever happens in this vault will last for years and years. No one will forget. There is a lack of fresh faces. This is the ultimate small-town. There will be no reprieve from some drama going down with a man like that. What I need is a man who doesn't want drama either; a man who hates himself almost as much as he hates the regime of this new world. My thoughts returned to the thought of Graves ravaging me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to feel a sensual touch from myself or from someone else without my mind being on him. He may not have taken my life, but he owns my lust and always will.

When I knocked him out, I had swung my stun baton with all of my might. His blood hair and specks of flesh still stained the tip. I cleaned the tip with a handkerchief. I considered discharging the stun cell on myself to escape these thoughts, but instead, I studied the handkerchief as I massaged myself with the tip of the stun baton.

Regardless of the consequences I will talk this out with someone or I will be in constant battle with self-harm. I am cognizant enough to realize this, but Mr. Graves and I will have this moment.


	6. Chapter 6 Allen Story 2

CHAP Allen Story 2

I truly reflect on the day that I spoke on Norman Graves' behalf as the first day I assumed the role of the man that I would become. It's almost as if I shed my slimy skin from the man I was to become a political figure by default. Immediately, I found that people came to me with difficult quandaries. They citizens of vault 52 began to look to me to be their political consult when faced with dilemmas from the Overseer's regime. Undoubtedly, my dirty laundry came to the surface very quickly. The overseer made sure that my previous lifes' sex scandals were common knowledge among the people, but he was too late. It actually took a little longer than I had expected for all of my little starlets to congregate and discuss my infractions. I received a lot of hate from many people for about a year. Over the next few, the sins were forgotten by most. The only people I have yet to receive the luxury of forgive or forget from are my daughters. Callie seems to only be angry because Tilda is, but I feel searing hate every time I look into her beautiful blue eyes. I realize that I deserve nothing less from her, but somehow I assumed that she would eventually let it go.

In the year following entry into the vault, I organized support groups for the children and developmental studies. As these meetings begin to attract attention from their success, soon adult groups were formed. From that point, I was cemented as public enemy number one by the overseer. Every conflict, shit duty, and generally dangerous task had me involved somehow. He was very careful about this. He couldn't outright make me the low man on the totem pole for Vault Garrison or anything like that without being obvious about trying to eliminate me. I don't want to believe it, but the few discussions that I have had with people I am close to about my current status in the vault have assured me that if the overseer were to kill me, I would be a martyr and a hero and most likely spark a revolution. I didn't want that. All that truly means is lost lives. At least it made political assassination the task at hand for the overseer rather than true assassination.

There is only one arrow the overseer has in his quiver that he hasn't fired at me yet. He has the records that show I did not purchase a seat in the Vault for Olivia. He has indirectly threatened to reveal this to me, but to date, he probably knows this is not controlling me; he is just waiting until Callie is a teenager to ensure maximum devastation to my family when the information gets out. That is why I have to rip of the bandage so to speak. I can only pray that this will be the hardest thing I will ever have to do. I will likely lose Tilda if I haven't already. I have to disclose it to group as well. My little "faction" will look at me like the scumbag that I really am. That I can deal with. I don't want the hate my daughters feel for me to finally consume me.

As Tilda began to pierce the borders of womanhood, many of the vault's educators and medical personnel tried to help her and the other girls her age. Tilda would not let any of them close. I had become close to Tina Calloway. Close as in confidant. Within that first year, while I was still trying to maintain a façade of the deeds I had done and the six young women whom I had coaxed into my bed before all of this. As the truth came out about me, my shame was deep and noticeable. The only person whom I felt truly understood that not everything is black and white about it was Tina. As we began to form a true friendship, she confided in me that she had a fierce sexual appetite she had to hide. I did too obviously. The very night of the confession, we rendezvoused in the belly of the vault in the cryo-locker. I thought I needed young impressionable women, but once I had a taste of Tina, I was cured of that need. She started by studying Norman Graves in his pod, and before long she had me smashing her against it. Her passion was white-hot. It was exciting again, like when you feel the hot wetness of touching a lady part for the first time. I was sure that this would be a one-off and I would be back on the hunt for such a thing, but it wasn't. It wasn't long before it was no longer a secret. Many people thought it was a pairing that made everyone safer. I was simply thankful that the girls already knew and trusted Tina. She had become their confidant long before we were public.

So as we announced our union, it was met with joy rather than suspicion and side-long glances. Granted there was the occasional teenage angst ridden altercation, but I was correct in my original projection that this much change would ease the transition of life without Olivia for the girls. Seeing this evidence first-hand drove my guilty thoughts to think that the only difference to my actions would have been the distinct possibility that Kelly Graves would have made it into the vault and Norman would have likely simply been executed. Then again, I still would have worn the blame somehow for the fate of the girls' savior in their eyes. I think the distinct difference would have been in me. I would not feel that Norman Graves' kindness met by my lack of regard for my wife and my slimy sex driven manipulation of young ladies.

I basically rehearsed what I would say to the girls to Tina. She was quite the realist. She told me to expect the kind of anger that cuts you to your soul, but the sooner that the wound is made, the sooner it will heal. She did have a point. The longer a secret festers, the worse it becomes when it is exposed. I asked her to be present when I told the girls. She refused. She again had a valid point. She didn't want to be associated with that despicable part of me, and she didn't want the girls to associate her with that either. She also reminded me that it was better that they confide in her than run into the arms of some boy or man here in the Vault. Worse yet, reveal another weakness for the overseer to exploit.

I asked the girls to return to our quarters to discuss an important matter. As could be expected, Callie was there on time and in a wonderful mood, where Tilda was late and irritated with needing to be there in the first place. As Tilda joined with a general "make this quick" kind of attitude, Tina began to make her exit.

"I'm going to go to the mess. Would anyone like anything?" Tina asked the girls.

"Aren't you going to stay here so Dad can tell us you're going to be our new mom?" Asked Tilda with her arms folded.

"Tilda, honey, I don't think we're quite ready for that." Tina said with a painfully forced smile.

"Then what the hell is this?" Asked Tilda.

"Language!" I said.

Tina shot me a glare of warning. I knew she was right. I was about to lose my authority when I confessed.

"I'm going to stop by my quarters for a while after I eat. I'll be back later." Said Tina as she exited the sliding door.

"Tilda, Callie, there is something important I need to tell you about your mother." I said.

"You mean other than the fact that you were cheating on her, right?" Said Tilda.

"Tilda Shush. Let him talk!" Said Callie.

"He doesn't need your help ruining our lives, Callie, if you understood what was going on, you'd be just as mad as I am." Said Tilda.

"Maybe I would if I was a teenager like you, but I do understand and I am plenty mad, I'm just able to deal where you're not." Said Callie.

"If you're able to deal there is no way you could possibly really understand what's going on." Said Tilda.

"Both of you, just let me say what I'm going to say, there will be plenty of time to discuss this later. Just let me get it out before I talk myself out of it." I pleaded.

With this appeal they both listened attentively as they both assumed this would be earth shattering.

"I didn't purchase your mother a seat here in the Vault. I used her seat as leverage to get several girls that I was having an affair with passage into the Vault. I know it was the most horrible thing I could have done. For that I am extremely sorry and I have grown past the person who committed that atrocity. I hope in time that the two of you will grow to forgive me. I thought about telling you it was her choice or that she was terminally ill and didn't want me to purchase her passage so that you could have it. Maybe that would have been a victimless crime, but with the overseer vilifying me like he is, the only ammunition he has against me is the truth. If I tell it to you, perhaps it will be better than finding out without me telling you." I explained.

The girls sat silently as he absorbed what I had said. Callie's face began to wrinkle and cry in heartbreak as Tilda's became hot and red with rage. Callie let out at whimper beginning to cry as Tilda lost her composure.

"I Fucking Hate you! You are the fucking slimiest piece of shit! So you're saying if Mom hadn't have been gunned down out there that she would have burned waiting outside heartbroken and betrayed!" Tilda Shouted.

"Yes, Tilda, that's basically what I'm saying." I said calmly. "I deserve to be hated for it, but I hope that one day you will forgive me."

"How could you do that to Mommy, Daddy?" Callie Pleaded.

"All this time I could blame the world and the cruelty of those trashy assholes that gunned them down for us not having our mom. Now I find out that you killed her! You may as well have pulled the trigger yourself but you're too fucking cowardly to do that!" Tilda Shouted.

"Yes, Tilda, it was cowardly and horrible. If I could take it back I would. I would gladly give up my seat now for hers. I am not the person I was when I made that choice. I can't take it back, but you deserve to know the truth." I said.

"Come on Callie, we're getting out of here." Said Tilda.

"No, I will move into Tina's quarters for a while. She will move in here." I said. "Will that be enough space for you?"

"If you were buried six feet under the vault, or a thousand feet under hell it wouldn't be enough space!" Said Tilda.

"I hope you change your mind one day. Until then, I will send Tina here." I said as I quickly made my exit.

Tina was just outside the door with an arm full of towels.

"It probably could've gone better." I said.

"No, you want her to let the hate out now. If she holds it she will always carry some of it." Said Tina. "I'll talk to you after they're asleep."


	7. Chapter 7 Tilda Story

Chap 7. Tilda Story

I was on watch the first day we saw proof of life outside the vault. I happened to be roving the vault door as part of my roving watch. My watch title was Hydraulic systems rover. I had to take the hydro level and pressure readings from the door rams and sweep the seams of the door with a Geiger counter. I had qualified and stood this watch several hundred times since I was 16 years old.

I scored very well on the GOAT which was almost bad as flunking it. It meant they could place me anywhere they needed me. If I had bombed the test completely, I would have been placed as a runner for any department. The only real difference was the idea that a high score changed the nature of on the job training. Rather than being assigned manual "shit work" you were explained how and why you do the jobs you do with the intention that you will take over one day. People who scored high in a particular area and low in another were easily placed based on their stronger subjects. The Overseer used high GOAT scores as incentives for department heads when he needed the occasional dirty and secretive favor.

I was working under Dr. Lance Murphy, a professor of electrical engineering. What he lacked in brawn and social grace, he made up for in quick recall of facts and fast calculated decision making. He was given the role of Chief Engineer, making him the figure head for the Damage Control, Reactor, Maintenance, and Recycling divisions. Being that he controlled most of the machinery that made people comfortable, he was often owed favors himself. He had aligned me specifically under him, though he typically groomed "High level GOATS" as shop leads. He was not particularly keen on being questioned or even presenting his reports to the overseer. It was only a short time before he was pushing these responsibilities to me. At first, I was scared to death of the overseer after all that happened, but soon I became a little more comfortable. I leaned heavily on professionalism as did he. It was always unspoken that if given the opportunity, I would kill him with my bear hands.

I often played with the door terminal's camera view while taking these readings simply to see what the outside looked like now. I was very familiar with the way that it was supposed to look. That night, I noticed what looked like a very skinny, heavily burned dog sniffing around the skeletal corpses. I was aghast at this. I couldn't turn away. I used the terminal to radio up to security.

"V-Sec. Hyd Sys Rover." I said into the intercom speaker.

"Hyd sys. V-Sec. Go." Said the voice from the intercom.

"V-Sec, I've got eyes on an anomaly on the door cams." I said.

"Roger Hyd Sys. Noted. Resume watch." Said the voice.

I vaguely made out a voice within the same room of the intercom, "Oh shit, look out, spot, here comes a hungry one!"

My eyes fell back to the monitor as I watched a fast-moving skeletal, charred, human-like being dive upon the dog and start ripping at its flesh and eating it. It still had remnants of clothing hanging from its stained rotting flesh. Its skin resembled a red raisin. I could not avert my eyes as another closed in and begin to tear at the dog's carcass. I could vaguely hear the dog whimper through the vault door. I could not blink, paralyzed by terror. My eyes watered and tears begin streaming, but still I could not blink nor turn my eyes. There were 3 of them tearing away pieces of the dog as two others were behind trying to reach the freshly dead dog. As the two continued to feed on the dog, the other two were visibly distracted by something off camera. I continued to watch as I could hear the muffled sounds of "tinks" hitting the door.

"Hyd sys; V-Sec. Are you still there?" the intercom said but I could not answer.

I continued to watch as the ghoulish creatures' heads exploded one by one. A figure wearing piece milled clothing and a hat walked toward the vault door. He studied the door as he pressed the button on the door control terminal. He gazed up at the camera where I saw his face too was like that of a raisin though he was not terribly charred. He still had hair, though his nose was gone and his eyes were recessed back into his head. He holstered his pistol as he slung his pack in front of him. He took out a Geiger counter and held it up to the camera. The number was 729 CPM. In studying the reactor with Dr. Murphy I knew that this was a high reading, but not a deadly one. He began to page the intercom button on the terminal. I was horrified. That face was glaring at me every time I closed my eyes. I finally broke away.

"Hyd sys. V-Sec. I can see you! Report to V-Sec Central immediately. Your watch relief will meet you here." Said the voice.

I was still paralyzed and could not turn my face as I watched the ghoulish man loot the corpses of the vicious ones and begin to harvest meat from the dog carcass.

"Hyd sys! V-sec! That is an order! Report to V-Sec Central or you will be brought in!" Said the Voice.

I snapped from my daze and pressed the talk button on the intercom.

"V-sec. Hyd sys. Roger. Inbound." I said

I did not delay as I made my way to V-sec. I began to measure what I had seen against what I knew and determined that this kind of event was not a surprise to V-sec, though it was not common knowledge to the rest of the vault. It had to be yet another thing that the Overseer was covering up. I wanted to give up right there. Yet again, my family and I have unwittingly become a target of the overseer.

I did not slow pace as I reported as ordered to V-sec where I used the intercom panel next to the door.

"V-sec, Come on in, Tilda." The voice stated.

I entered the dark room where the glow of monitors dimly lit the faces of the watch-standers. They all continued to watch the unexpected guest's every move outside the door.

"Tilda, what were you doing accessing the cams?" asked Jim Casey, the man I had been talking to on the intercom.

"I was unaware that we were not allowed to." I replied.

"Yeah, well he isn't going to care you know. You may be in deep shit. It's one thing to get caught when there's nothing going on, but this is the first time we've seen someone act sort of with it out there."

"Why aren't we talking to him, Jim?" I asked.

"Tilda, you know while I've got the badge on you call me officer." He replied.

"Sorry, Officer. Why?" I asked again

"Overseer's orders, we are not to make contact at this time." He said. "Nor is the knowledge of any life detected beyond the vault to leave this room." Said Jim.

"Oh. I guess that's why I'm here." I deduced.

"Unfortunately, yes." Said Jim.

"Can I just get my extra duty order knocked out so I can get back to watch?" I said.

"Sorry, Tild, it's protocol." Said Jim.

I growled in frustration as I continued to watch the monitor. The ghoulish man was scrawling a single word on the wall that the camera was facing. T… R… A… D… E… ? I noticed that Jim was rapidly typing as the man made actions. He seemed to be writing the report as it happened.

"Aren't you recording? Why type it all out?" I asked.

"Shh… you aren't even supposed to be watching…. Orders…" he replied.

The doorbell rang as Jim panicked.

"Tilda, get up! Stand at attention and face the wall!" He whispered frantically.

I did as he asked as he opened the door and announced, "Overseer on deck!" as the other two guys in the room popped tall with Jim. He entered the room with purpose along with his personal bodyguard, his apprentice Aiden Varney, and head of V-sec, Coach C.

"Carry on. What's the sit rep?" said the overseer.

"We had an outside event, Sir; This time, proof of intelligent life. And a possible opsec breech at the vault door terminal. Hyd sys rover was watching the door cams when she saw this, Sir." Jim said as he started the playback on the monitor.

"Is the Hyd Sys here?" Asked Coach C.

"Right here, Coach." I said.

"Tilda Story. But of course. Handle it, Coach… Carefully." Said the Overseer.

Coach pulled his handcuffs from his belt and fastened them to my wrists before leading me into the adjacent interrogation room.

"Tilda, you screwed up." Said Coach C.

"I realize that. It wasn't in the watch-stander's regulations nor the vault 52 dweller's code not to access the vault door cams." I said.

"Doesn't matter, there's already someone disabling the cam access on every terminal but VSEC as we speak. Now what did you see?" he asked.

"All of what they're showing the overseer right now." I replied.

"Let me ask again. What did you see?" He asked with a more forceful look.

"It was just a standard watch. There was nothing out of the ordinary going on at all." I said.

"What is the punishment for treasonous acts?" He asked.

"Death to the perpetrator, reparation debt assigned to their family. Don't you think I, of all people already know that law?" I asked defiantly.

I could see that he was resolved not to take the bait as I had cast it being that my sister, Tina Calloway, and I had all been receiving a quarter less of our food, water, clothing, and morale rations for the last seven years. Not to mention the fact that the overseer had ordered my father executed. I was suspicious of the fact that it had occurred as immediately as the overseer would have us believe. The overseer was often one to set an example. My father's execution was not public, nor recorded. I feared that he was being kept somewhere and tortured, but even with underground investigation, no glimmers of hope could be found.

"You'd think so. I will not press that issue any further, but you understand that divulging information deemed as classified is a treasonous act, correct?"

"yes, sir." I said.

"What you did not see on watch today is information deemed as classified." He said.

"Understood, sir, may I sign my extra duty form and return to watch?" I asked.

"No. You will be placed under probationary surveillance until the classified information becomes unclassified. An Eye-bot program placed within a Mr. handy body. If you speak of said classified information, the Mr. Handy will 'Malfunction' and kill you instantly. Understood?" Coach C. Stated.

"Yes, sir. When should I expect my new shadow?" I asked.

"He's already waiting in the hallway." Coach said as he reached down to unlock my handcuffs.

"Thank you for your understanding, sir." I told Coach as I rubbed my wrists.

"See that it wasn't misplaced." He replied.

I walked to the door and as it opened I noticed the familiar striation marks on the body of Stevious. I smiled to myself as I made my way down the hallway and he followed. I had known Stevious for most of my life. I knew that every attempt at turning his sentient memory off had failed. I would assume that Norman Graves had developed a switch combination code to ensure that his personal Mr. Handy could not be pirated to assassinate him; a feature he'd seen added regularly at his work with Robco modifications. I was assuming and did not want to test the theory, however, I suspected that if Stevious was showing evidence of being "wiped" he was acting that way on purpose. As I walked from the V-sec offices and returned to my routine watch, I swallowed little gulps of fury knowing that I was not only being watched by Stevious, but also by V-sec to look for signs of erratic behavior.

Due to the implications of my father before me, I was under keen watch as it was due to his involvement in the resistance. I had to use many layers of detachment, but I was actively involved in the silent resistance and I had a monster of a tale to get to them. In my heart I knew that this was the day that the revolution was scheduled. That number on that Geiger counter eliminated a very large variable. I would merely have to wait for the V-sec surveillance to become complacent. Of which, I would have to give plenty of time to be sure.


	8. Chapter 8, & 9 Callie, Tina

Chap 8. Callie Story

This Vault is hell. I often wish I would have shared my mother's fate out there. I've been here for over ten years now and people still treat me and the rest of my family like we are a plague. I GOATed into the medical department, therefore lots and lots of face time with people. The quiet waiting rooms are just quiet enough for me to hear the other citizens re-telling the stories with their opinions camouflaged into it. Gossiping as this tiny underground prison is best at. Talking about my executed treasonous father, my whore of a step-mother and her connections with a made-up resistance, My sister now currently in trouble for digging into secretive information, and me, the youngest, everyone just waiting to see how I am going to exhibit my flaws. I always serve people with a smile on my face hoping to improve their opinion on my family, but no one is happy here so no one sees anything positive.

I have tried to make the best of my time here despite the troubles of my family. My father has been gone for 6 years now, and Tina does the very best she can to help Tilda and me out. The overseer refused to recognize her as our new guardian, so she only gets single rations rather than family. Technically Tilda and I have been wards of the overseer since she was 12 and I was 10. If there was a lower class here in the vault, we were it.

I have been pretty lucky in the fact that Ted Casey cares more about our relationship than he does about his reputation here in the vault. It may be his clean-cut way of rebelling, or it may be meant to be. I'm not one to dig too deeply on the topic. Why explain away a good thing? Ted's older brother works for V-Sec and has recently become another name on Tilda's shit list. Ted works the Science deck. He, unlike his brother scored high in the Intel bracket on the GOAT. It was a pretty exclusive group considering there are only 5 other people in the science deck. Sometimes he's a little cocky about his knowledge. If I ask too many questions, he becomes very suspicious of me. I guess it's understandable considering my family reputation of treason. I could care less what is going on most of the time. So far, knowing any inconvenient truths has rewarded us with nothing but misery. I would much rather be blissfully blind and dumb.

With my family history, any time a conversation about the slightest level of classified information is had and I am spotted, I am greeted with silent dagger stares. I really wish I could say I hate my family for what each of them has done to add to this, but I know it was never us. It was always the populous of this Vault and the Overseer that runs it. I would just enjoy my little victories and try not to think too much about the future like every other vault dweller here. Hope or the lack thereof can equally cripple you. Tonight was one of those little victories. I received an inter-vault mail from Ted telling me he needed to see me tonight, there was something to celebrate.

As I smiled to myself between patients I heard the door slide actuate. Tilda walked in past the counter where the customers waited. She burst into my cubical as she often did like she owned the place.

"Are you going to see Ted tonight?" She asked

"NUNYA!" I said to emphasize her invasion of privacy.

"I'm worried, Callie, I feel like you're going to fast with him. I'd like for the three of us to have a talk." Tilda Said.

"Is that Stevious?" I asked as I rolled my eyes at her concern.

"No, it's a Mr. Handy I'm taking along for some maintenance." Tilda said as she covertly moved her finger to her lips to indicate a secret.

I looked from the Mr. Handy back to her puzzled. She pointed covertly upward and again with two fingers to her eyes. I understood this to mean "they're watching."

"Listen, when you two are done with whatever it is you're going to do tonight, why don't you bring him by our room. I have the perfect test of his intentions." She said as she placed one hand over her balled fist communicating "under cover."

I was intrigued. I knew that whatever this was had to be game-changing. Ted had no ties whatsoever to resistance. Tilda had better not be trying to pull him into something. I knew that I couldn't threaten her now, but I could do my best to communicate the threat with my facial expressions.

I could tell by her reaction that she understood, but her expression was even more concerning. She bit her lower lip as if to say "no choice." I knew my sister well enough to know that the information, or plot she was carrying was cooking her from the inside out. Whatever it was she was going to talk about tonight was going to be a game changer. I watched Tilda walk out of the medical bay as Julia Arvin smiled and winked at her. She frowned at her as she exited the door.

I studied the room as several of the bystanders watched in concern. If there was a plot from the resistance coming to fruition tonight, it would not be by surprise if they weren't more careful about it. This was a detail I had full intention on telling Tilda when I had a chance to speak freely. Then it dawned on me, she wanted us away from whatever was going to happen, she didn't actually want to talk. The rest of the day, I covertly stashed a medic kit and as many stimpacks as I could cook off the books. The little glimmer of happiness and excitement about tonight that I had been riding on was now a feeling of anxiety and dread. I trusted Tilda knew what she was doing, but there weren't many other competent people resistance or otherwise I would trust with an undisclosed plan.

I could not keep tears from welling in my eyes. I was swallowing the ball in my throat so hard that it was intensely painful. I had to try much harder to have faith that it was going to work. I feared that my sister would share the fate of my father if she was caught before during or after this endeavor. This time I was sure that the overseer would commence a witch hunt for those who supported resistance. He was the kind of man who would rather dictate 5 living people and a vault full of corpses than cater to a full vault. I said a silent prayer as I wiped any duress from my face and escorted the next patient in.

Chap 9: Tina Calloway Story

"Who would have thought it would turn out this way? Each of us started as broken mourning individuals. Now we are a secret army. We are dedicated to taking back what was robbed from us. We paid to survive the end of life as we knew it. We were already cheating death. We are living on Borrowed time."

"Fourteen years ago, the very day we all found our new home, a man made it in. Today we know this as the shot heard around the vault. That simple action set the things in motion that showed us the true nature and intentions of our overseer. Why is he called an overseer rather than a governor, or any other form of leadership? Because you wouldn't call a lab supervisor the leader of the guinea pigs would you? Vault-Tec offered us a chance to survive for a ridiculous price, but the fine-print we were not made aware of was that we were to be part of a large series of experiments."

"Each and every one of us are kept fed, healthy, and communized in order to allow them to reap us when they're ready to use us. Brothers and Sister, how many funerals have you attended in the last fourteen years? People have died, yes. Has anyone seen the bodies? Come to think of it, the moment someone is declared Terminal, they are not seen again. I have been made aware of something truly disturbing. There is another wing of Vault 52 occupied by Vault-Tec scientists. Our overseer is charged with giving them specimens. Of which, My husband was the first who was not already sick. Sentenced to death, sure, but even if we behave and no one is sick, we will be drafted eventually."

"Tonight we take this Vault from Vault-Tec. Tonight we turn this Vault into the people's republic of 52 as it was advertised to us. Those of us who have this knowledge have no choice but to fight. To keep his secret, the overseer is willing to kill us all. It's his regime or us. Vault Citizens, stand with the resistance or fall prey to it!"

"Great!" Said Alicia Romans, "There's no way that wouldn't stir something in everyone."

"You don't think the threat at the end is too much?" I asked.

"Not if it's the truth." She replied.

"So you've got it set to broadcast to every pip-boy at exactly 1948?" I asked.

"Yes. I've set a couple traps in the network here for when they try to take the signal down through the mainframe. It should buy enough time to get through the whole speech." She said.

"And you've got capability to broadcast from your pip-boy just in case something goes wrong." I reminded.

"Yes, Tina, I know we haven't been able to talk it out much, but I do well understand the plan." She said.

"Great!. So while V-Sec responds to the breech in the Science Deck, Tilda and I will be thawing Graves and working our way to the overseer's quarters. Are you sure you don't need another body to help with the counter security jobs on both ends." I asked.

"Listen, Tina, I can't very well take another body from the front line out in the Science Deck if I'm not risking anything myself here. I know it's an insurance policy, but the backup protocol is set up to transfer my access gate straight to Nathan Stovall onsite if something happens on my end and he's got protection in place to get him to the terminal safely. With our numbers and our plan, I don't see how we can make this any less risky." Said Alicia.

"I know, I know. If only we could have congregated and planned this openly. Crippling our communication was one of the most detrimental preventions we have overcome. Well may have overcome." I said. "Keep your ear to the rails for the next four hours. I will see you when the smoke clears. If we fail, all hope is lost."

"If we fail, we won't live to see what lost hope looks like. At least not without experiencing whatever horrible experiments they're performing in there." Said Alicia.

"We aren't just fighting for our home. We are fighting for humanity." I said.

"Too bad you didn't work that into your speech." She said.

"I will on the next one." I said with a smirk.

"I can't wait to hear it." She said smirking back.


End file.
